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SoX

NAME

soxexam - SoX Examples (CHEAT SHEET)

CONVERSIONS

Introduction
In general, SoX will attempt to take an input sound file format and
convert it into a new file format using a similar data type and sample
rate. For instance, "sox monkey.au monkey.wav" would try and convert
the mono 8000Hz u-law sample .au file that comes with SoX to a 8000Hz
u-law .wav file.
If an output format doesn't support the same data type as the input file
then SoX will generally select a default data type to save it in.
You can override the default data type selection by using command line
options. This is also useful for producing an output file with higher
or lower precision data and/or sample rate.
Most file formats that contain headers can automatically be read in.
When working with header-less file formats then a user must manually
tell SoX the data type and sample rate using command line options.
When working with header-less files (raw files), you may take advantage of
the pseudo-file types of .ub, .uw, .sb, .sw, .ul, and .sl. By using these
extensions on your filenames you will not have to specify the corresponding
options on the command line.
Precision
The following data types and formats can be represented by their total
uncompressed bit precision. When converting from one data type to another
care must be taken to insure it has an equal or greater precision. If not
then the audio quality will be degraded. This is not always a bad thing
when your working with things such as voice audio and are concerned about
disk space or bandwidth of the audio data.

Data Format Precision
___________ _________

unsigned byte 8-bit

signed byte 8-bit

u-law 14-bit

A-law 13-bit

unsigned word 16-bit

signed word 16-bit

ADPCM 16-bit

GSM 16-bit

unsigned long 32-bit

signed long 32-bit

___________ _________Examples
Use the '-V' option on all your command lines. It makes SoX print out its
idea of what is going on. '-V' is your friend.
To convert from unsigned bytes at 8000 Hz to signed words at 8000 Hz:

sox -r 8000 -u -b -c 1 filename.raw filename.wav
SoX may even be used to convert sample rates. Downconverting will
reduce the bandwidth of a sample, but will reduce storage space on
your disk. All such conversions are lossy and will introduce some noise.
You should really pass your sample through a low pass filter
prior to downconverting as this will prevent alias signals (which
would sound like additional noise). For example to convert from a
sample recorded at 11025 Hz to a u-law file at 8000 Hz sample rate:

sox infile.wav -t au -r 8000 -U -b -c 1 outputfile.au
To add a low-pass filter (note use of stdout for output of
the first stage and stdin for input on the second stage):

SoX
is great to use along with other command line programs by passing data
between the programs using pipelines. The most common example is to use
mpg123 to convert mp3 files in to wav files. The following command line will
do this:

mpg123 -b 10000 -s filename.mp3 | sox -t raw -r 44100 -s -w -c 2 - filename.wav
When working with totally unknown audio data then the "auto" file format may
be of use. It attempts to guess what the file type is and then you may
save it into a known audio format.

sox -V -t auto filename.snd filename.wav
It is important to understand how the internals of
SoX
work with
compressed audio including u-law, A-law, ADPCM, or GSM.
SoX
takes ALL input data types and converts them to uncompressed 32-bit
signed data. It will then convert this internal version into the
requested output format. This means additional noise can be introduced
from decompressing data and then recompressing. If applying multiple
effects to audio data, it is best to save the intermediate data as PCM
data. After the final effect is performed, then you can specify it as
a compressed output format. This will keep noise introduction to a minimum.
The following example applies various effects to an 8000 Hz ADPCM input
file and then end up with the final file as 44100 Hz ADPCM.

sox firstfile.wav -r 44100 -s -w secondfile.wav

sox secondfile.wav thirdfile.wav swap

sox thirdfile.wav -a -b finalfile.wav mask
Under a DOS shell, you can convert several audio files to an new output
format using something similar to the following command line:

FOR %X IN (*.RAW) DO sox -r 11025 -w -s -t raw $X $X.wav

EFFECTS

Special thanks goes to Juergen Mueller (jmeuller@uia.au.ac.be) for this
write up on effects.
Introduction:
The core problem is that you need some experience in using effects
in order to say "that any old sound file sounds with effects
absolutely hip". There isn't any rule-based system which tell you
the correct setting of all the parameters for every effect.
But after some time you will become an expert in using effects.
Here are some examples which can be used with any music sample.
(For a sample where only a single instrument is playing, extreme
parameter setting may make well-known "typically" or "classical"
sounds. Likewise, for drums, vocals or guitars.)
Single effects will be explained and some given parameter settings
that can be used to understand the theory by listening to the sound file
with the added effect.
Using multiple effects in parallel or in series can result either
in a very nice sound or (mostly) in a dramatic overloading in
variations of sounds such that your ear may follow the sound but
you will feel unsatisfied. Hence, for the first time using effects
try to compose them as minimally as possible. We don't regard the
composition of effects in the examples because too many combinations
are possible and you really need a very fast machine and a lot of
memory to play them in real-time.
However, real-time playing of sounds will greatly speed up learning
and/or tuning the parameter settings for your sounds in order to
get that "perfect" effect.
Basically, we will use the "play" front-end of SoX since it is easier
to listen sounds coming out of the speaker or earphone instead
of looking at cryptic data in sound files.
For easy listening of file.xxx ("xxx" is any sound format):
playfile.xxxeffect-nameeffect-parameters
Or more SoX-like (for "dsp" output on a UNIX/Linux computer):
soxfile.xxx-tossdsp-w-s/dev/dspeffect-nameeffect-parameters
or (for "au" output):
soxfile.xxx-tsunau-w-s/dev/audioeffect-nameeffect-parameters
And for date freaks:
soxfile.xxxfile.yyyeffect-nameeffect-parameters
Additional options can be used. However, in this case, for real-time
playing you'll need a very fast machine.
Notes:
I played all examples in real-time on a Pentium 100 with 32 MB and
Linux 2.0.30 using a self-recorded sample ( 3:15 min long in "wav"
format with 44.1 kHz sample rate and stereo 16 bit ).
The sample should not contain any of the effects. However,
if you take any recording of a sound track from radio or tape or CD,
and it sounds like a live concert or ten people are playing the same
rhythm with their drums or funky-grooves, then take any other sample.
(Typically, less then four different instruments and no synthesizer
in the sample is suitable. Likewise, the combination vocal, drums, bass
and guitar.)
Effects:
Echo
An echo effect can be naturally found in the mountains, standing somewhere
on a mountain and shouting a single word will result in one or more repetitions
of the word (if not, turn a bit around and try again, or climb to the next
mountain).
However, the time difference between shouting and repeating is the delay
(time), its loudness is the decay. Multiple echos can have different delays and
decays.
It is very popular to use echos to play an instrument with itself together,
like some guitar players (Brain May from Queen) or vocalists are doing.
For music samples of more than one instrument, echo can be used to add a
second sample shortly after the original one.
This will sound as if you are doubling the number of instruments playing
in the same sample:
playfile.xxxecho0.80.8860.00.4
If the delay is very short, then it sound like a (metallic) robot playing
music:
playfile.xxxecho0.80.886.00.4
Longer delay will sound like an open air concert in the mountains:
playfile.xxxecho0.80.91000.00.3
One mountain more, and:
playfile.xxxecho0.80.91000.00.31800.00.25Echos
Like the echo effect, echos stand for "ECHO in Sequel", that is the first echos
takes the input, the second the input and the first echos, the third the input
and the first and the second echos, ... and so on.
Care should be taken using many echos (see introduction); a single echos
has the same effect as a single echo.
The sample will be bounced twice in symmetric echos:
playfile.xxxechos0.80.7700.00.25700.00.3
The sample will be bounced twice in asymmetric echos:
playfile.xxxechos0.80.7700.00.25900.00.3
The sample will sound as if played in a garage:
playfile.xxxechos0.80.740.00.2563.00.3Chorus
The chorus effect has its name because it will often be used to make a single
vocal sound like a chorus. But it can be applied to other instrument samples
too.
It works like the echo effect with a short delay, but the delay isn't constant.
The delay is varied using a sinusoidal or triangular modulation. The modulation
depth defines the range the modulated delay is played before or after the
delay. Hence the delayed sound will sound slower or faster, that is the delayed
sound tuned around the original one, like in a chorus where some vocals are
a bit out of tune.
The typical delay is around 40ms to 60ms, the speed of the modulation is best
near 0.25Hz and the modulation depth around 2ms.
A single delay will make the sample more overloaded:
playfile.xxxchorus0.70.955.00.40.252.0-t
Two delays of the original samples sound like this:
playfile.xxxchorus0.60.950.00.40.252.0-t60.00.320.41.3-s
A big chorus of the sample is (three additional samples):
playfile.xxxchorus0.50.950.00.40.252.0-t60.00.320.42.3-t40.00.30.3-s
Flanger
The flanger effect is like the chorus effect, but the delay varies between
0ms and maximal 5ms. It sound like wind blowing, sometimes faster or slower
including changes of the speed.
The flanger effect is widely used in funk and soul music, where the guitar
sound varies frequently slow or a bit faster.
The typical delay is around 3ms to 5ms, the speed of the modulation is best
near 0.5Hz.
Now, let's groove the sample:
playfile.xxxflanger0.60.873.00.90.5-s
listen carefully between the difference of sinusoidal and triangular modulation:
playfile.xxxflanger0.60.873.00.90.5-t
If the decay is a bit lower, than the effect sounds more popular:
playfile.xxxflanger0.80.883.00.40.5-t
The drunken loudspeaker system:
playfile.xxxflanger0.90.94.00.231.3-sReverb
The reverb effect is often used in audience hall which are to small or contain
too many many visitors which disturb (dampen) the reflection of sound at
the walls. Reverb will make the sound be perceived as if it were in
a large hall. You can try the reverb effect in your bathroom or garage or
sport halls by shouting loud some words. You'll hear the words reflected from
the walls.
The biggest problem in using the reverb effect is the correct setting of the
(wall) delays such that the sound is realistic and doesn't sound like music
playing in a tin can or has overloaded feedback which destroys any illusion
of playing in a big hall.
To help you obtain realistic reverb effects, you should decide first how
long the reverb should take place until it is not loud enough to be registered
by your ears. This is be done by varying the reverb time "t". To simulate
small halls, use 200ms. To simulate large halls, use 1000ms. Clearly,
the walls of such a hall aren't far
away, so you should define its setting be given every wall its delay time.
However, if the wall is to far away for the reverb time, you won't hear the
reverb, so the nearest wall will be best at "t/4" delay and the farthest
at "t/2". You can try other distances as well, but it won't sound very realistic.
The walls shouldn't stand to close to each other and not in a multiple integer
distance to each other ( so avoid wall like: 200.0 and 202.0, or something
like 100.0 and 200.0 ).
Since audience halls do have a lot of walls, we will start designing one
beginning with one wall:
playfile.xxxreverb1.0600.0180.0
One wall more:
playfile.xxxreverb1.0600.0180.0200.0
Next two walls:
playfile.xxxreverb1.0600.0180.0200.0220.0240.0
Now, why not a futuristic hall with six walls:
playfile.xxxreverb1.0600.0180.0200.0220.0240.0280.0300.0
If you run out of machine power or memory, then stop as many applications
as possible (every interrupt will consume a lot of CPU time which for
bigger halls is absolutely necessary).
Phaser
The phaser effect is like the flanger effect, but it uses a reverb instead of
an echo and does phase shifting. You'll hear the difference in the examples
comparing both effects (simply change the effect name).
The delay modulation can be sinusoidal or triangular, preferable is the
later for multiple instruments. For single instrument sounds,
the sinusoidal phaser effect will give a sharper phasing effect.
The decay shouldn't be to close to 1.0 which will cause dramatic feedback.
A good range is about 0.5 to 0.1 for the decay.
We will take a parameter setting as for the flanger before (gain-out is
lower since feedback can raise the output dramatically):
playfile.xxxphaser0.80.743.00.40.5-t
The drunken loudspeaker system (now less alcohol):
playfile.xxxphaser0.90.854.00.231.3-s
A popular sound of the sample is as follows:
playfile.xxxphaser0.890.851.00.242.0-t
The sample sounds if ten springs are in your ears:
playfile.xxxphaser0.60.663.00.62.0-tCompander
The compander effect allows the dynamic range of a signal to be
compressed or expanded.
For most situations, the attack time (response to the music getting
louder) should be shorter than the decay time because our ears are more
sensitive to suddenly loud music than to suddenly soft music.
For example, suppose you are listening to Strauss' "Also Sprach
Zarathustra" in a noisy environment such as a car.
If you turn up the volume enough to hear the soft passages over the
road noise, the loud sections will be too loud.
You could try this:
playfile.xxxcompand0.3,1-90,-90,-70,-70,-60,-20,0,0-500.2
The transfer function ("-90,...") says that
very
soft sounds between -90 and -70 decibels (-90 is about the limit of
16-bit encoding) will remain unchanged.
That keeps the compander from boosting the volume on "silent" passages
such as between movements.
However, sounds in the range -60 decibels to 0 decibels (maximum
volume) will be boosted so that the 60-dB dynamic range of the
original music will be compressed 3-to-1 into a 20-dB range, which is
wide enough to enjoy the music but narrow enough to get around the
road noise.
The -5 dB output gain is needed to avoid clipping (the number is
inexact, and was derived by experimentation).
The 0 for the initial volume will work fine for a clip that starts
with a bit of silence, and the delay of 0.2 has the effect of causing
the compander to react a bit more quickly to sudden volume changes.
Changing the Rate of Playback
You can use stretch to change the rate of playback of an audio sample
while preserving the pitch. For example to play at 1/2 the speed:
playfile.wavstretch2
To play a file at twice the speed:
playfile.wavstretch.5
Other related options are "speed" to change the speed of play
(and changing the pitch accordingly), and pitch, to alter the
pitch of a sample. For example to speed a sample so it plays in
1/2 the time (for those Mickey Mouse voices):
playfile.wavspeed2
To raise the pitch of a sample 1 while note (100 cents):
playfile.wavpitch100

Reducing noise in a recording
First find a period of silence in your recording, such as the beginning or
end of a piece. If the first 1.5 seconds of the recording are silent, do
soxfile.wav-tnul/dev/nulltrim01.5noiseprof/tmp/profile
Next, use the noisered effect to actually reduce the noise:
playfile.wavnoisered/tmp/profile

Other effects (copy, rate, avg, stat, vibro, lowp, highp, band, reverb)
The other effects are simple to use. However, an "easy to use manual" should
be given here.
More effects (to do !)
There are a lot of effects around like noise gates, compressors, waw-waw,
stereo effects and so on. They should be implemented, making SoX more
useful in sound mixing techniques coming together with a great variety of
different sound effects.
Combining effects by using them in parallel or serially on different channels
needs some easy mechanism which is stable for use in real-time.
Really missing are the the changing of the parameters and starting/stopping of
effects while playing samples in real-time!
Good luck and have fun with all the effects!